UnitedHealth Hits Reset: New Head Of Medicaid Appointed As CEO Reshapes Team

UnitedHealth Group, Inc. UNH appointed a new head of its Medicaid division, a position that had been unfilled since May. 

The Details: UnitedHealth appointed Mike Cotton on Wednesday as the new CEO of its Medicaid division, as confirmed to Becker's. 

Bobby Hunter, who leads UnitedHealthcare's Medicare business, will now oversee both the Medicare and Medicaid segments.

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In May, Andrew Witty stepped down as CEO of UnitedHealth Group, with Stephen Hemsley returning to the top leadership role. Since Hemsley's return, the company has made several changes to the executive team at Optum, its health services arm.

According to the company, these leadership adjustments reflect the company's ongoing strategy to build an executive team with broad experience across its various businesses. 

Cotton, who joined UnitedHealth Group in 2021, previously served as president and CEO of Select Health at Intermountain.

Why It Matters: At the company's annual shareholder meeting, Hemsley acknowledged UnitedHealth's recent struggles, apologized for its performance and emphasized the need to rethink internal processes. 

He assured shareholders that recent financial results have been factored into the company's 2025 Medicare bids and stressed the importance of adopting a fresh perspective on issues that have drawn widespread criticism. 

Under Witty, UnitedHealth expanded its dominance in Medicare Advantage, reportedly achieving profit margins on Medicare enrollees roughly double those of traditional Medicare insurers. This advantage was partly due to federal rules and higher government payments for patients with certain chronic conditions. 

However, Medicare policy changes announced in 2023 are now reducing or eliminating many of these extra payments, which is expected to have a major financial impact—affecting nearly 900,000 patients, according to an internal analysis.

Despite these headwinds, UnitedHealth continued to pursue Medicare growth for 2025, even in higher-risk patient groups, while competitors pulled back after profit declines in 2024. 

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